There have been teachings over time suggesting the benefit of associating a light source with foot wear. Certain athletic shoe manufacturers place a mercury switch in the heel of a shoe to provide a blinking light when pressure is applied to activate the switch. U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,329 teaches a lighting attachment for inline and roller skates in which boxes housing lights are adhered to the sides of skates by means of double sided adhesive tape or by hook and loop fasteners. U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,971 also claims a lighting system for inline skates that employs a spring that may lengthen or shorten automatically when the lighting system is attached to skates of different sizes. U.S. Pat. No. 7,059,739 discloses an illumination device with flashing lights adjustably fixable to ice skates or inline skates in the form of LEDs visible inside of a transparent box installed in the hollow between the shoe portion and blade or wheels of the skate.
In each instance the shoe or skate lights suggested by the patented literature cited above often employ complex assemblies which are not easily applied to the skate or any working parts thereof. Further, the lights tend to be flashing LEDs emanating from the side of the skates which have little or no halo effect upon the ice or skating surface and thus provide little or no visual impact. In addition, all such prior devices require activation and deactivation by requiring a user to bend over and access the device beneath his or her boot or shoe which can be difficult for some users and also can be hazardous in instances where a user might lose one's balance or stop to control the device without regard to other skaters in his or her immediate proximity.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a device capable of ready attachment to a preexisting ice or inline skate devoid of the limitations of other devices.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an illumination device for an ice or inline skate which can be releaseably attached to the skate and remotely controlled without the need for activating or deactivating the device at skate level.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an illumination device which is capable of providing a halo effect or light cloud providing an observer with the sense that the user is skating on light thus dramatically enhancing the skating experience.
These and further objects will be more readily apparent when considering the following disclosure and appended claims.